Frontiers in Psychiatry (Nov 2020)

Early Screening and Risk Factors of Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Large Cohort of Chinese Patients With Prader-Willi Syndrome

  • Xuejun Kong,
  • Junli Zhu,
  • Ruiyi Tian,
  • Siyu Liu,
  • Hannah T. Sherman,
  • Xiaoying Zhang,
  • Xiaojing Lin,
  • Yan Han,
  • Zhi Xiang,
  • Madelyn Koh,
  • Clara Hobbie,
  • Bryan Wang,
  • Kevin Liu,
  • Jun Liu,
  • Yueping Yin,
  • Guobin Wan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.594934
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

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Previous studies regarding the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in patients with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) have implicated heterogenous findings. Additionally, the early screening of ASD high-risk population for ASD and identifying ASD risk factors in PWS patients have not been explored. This study included 218 Chinese PWS patients aged 3 months to 18 years old. 78% of subjects were identified as high risk for ASD by ASQ-3 Communication domain score for those younger than 3 years of age and 84% of subjects were classified as high risk for ASD by the GARS-3 for those aged 3 years and older. Among PWS clinical measurements, under-height (P = 0.0186), overweight (P = 0.0248), and obstructive sleep apnea (P = 0.0259) were each significantly correlated with ASD risk. These risk factors and their internal relationship with ASD or ASD traits warrant further studies.

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